When any voluntaryassociation of organizations or even individuals - you can talk about the coalition. This is one of the most common means to defeat a stronger enemy or other coalition. Any forces and organizations can unite, but in the history military-political alliances are most known, of course, with relatively recent (by historical standards) times - economic ones. Basically, they will be dismantled in this article.
What is a coalition in history?
The first coalition arose in immemorial times.Probably, when several groups of hunters from different sites joined together to hunt larger game. Since then, various alliances have arisen constantly, and sometimes it is precisely because of their actions that history has made sharp turns. For example, only by uniting the Hellenic polis were able to defeat the Persian State - the largest and most powerful empire at that time.
However, at times participation in the coalition played andnegative role. A. Hitler made a lot of efforts at the beginning to make an alliance with B. Mussolini, and then to convince the Italian dictator to enter the war. But in fact, the Italian troops had little help, on the contrary, the German troops had to take part in the fighting in the new theaters, to which they were not supposed to send them. In addition, it was allied duty to Japan that made A. Hitler declare war on the United States.
How close were the history of the coalition?
In the history there are more and less closecoalition. This implies, above all, how well coordinated the actions of its members are. For example, within an alliance such as NATO, the allies constantly coordinate their efforts. To this end, within the framework of the organization, the NATO Council, the Military Planning Committee and the Secretary General work, who, of course, is not the commander-in-chief of the allied forces, but has broad powers in organizing joint actions.
On the other hand, history knows and manyexamples of less close cooperation. During the Seven Years' War, France and Prussia constituted one of two opposing coalitions, but this was indicated, perhaps, only by the fact that they did not fight each other and their opponents were united in a coalition. Otherwise, they did not coordinate their actions and even fought mainly in different parts of the world: Prussia repelled attacks from different sides in Europe, France in this war is known mainly for actions against British forces (in general, unsuccessful) in the colonies and at sea.
Equal coalitions
Большая часть наиболее известных в истории coalitions of states included more or less equal members. An example is the anti-Napoleonic coalition, which was concluded and collapsed one after another at the beginning of the XIX century. Thanks to the equality of their members, coalitions were formed quickly and voluntarily, but also quickly disintegrated after another defeat, as there was no strong center that could support those who are hesitant in their struggle or even force it to continue.
Also, precisely because of the lack of a singleAfter defeating Napoleon as a focal point, the coalition was unable to fully benefit from this victory: at the Congress of Vienna, the head of French diplomacy, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, managed to sow distrust between the allies, thanks to which France was able to avoid the most negative consequences of its loss.
Unequal coalitions
But there are cases known in history whena pronounced leader dictated his will to the rest of the coalition. This, for example, the Athenian Maritime Union. The alliance policies paid Athens the fee set for each of them, and Athens already equipped the money with the money they received, first of all, the fleet, the creation of which was the aim of the coalition, as well as the ground forces. Many scientists even consider this alliance as something between a coalition of policies and the Athenian empire.
Thanks to such an organization, union forces are alwaysperformed as one. The downside was the Athenian dictatorship in the union. Periodically this or that policy tried to get rid of it - the result was the Athenian military expeditions and heavy punishments for the recalcitrant.
The transformation of the coalition into a single state
Thus, it is clear that the story knows closeunions, as well as unions with a clear leader. In light of this, it is not surprising that there have been cases when a coalition of states has become a single state, its members have lost their independence.
Rome at the beginning of their conquests headed ratherclose union of the Italian policies (like the Athenian Maritime Union). Sometimes some members left the coalition, as was the case during the II Punic War, when many former Roman allies supported Hannibal. But in the end, the coalition became so close that during the so-called Allied wars, it was the Allies who demanded that the coalition be transformed into a single state: hopes for the real sovereignty of their policies no longer existed, and the creation of a single state should have been given wider rights citizenship rights in the union policies.
Coalition political parties
It is time to remember this at the beginning of the article.definition A coalition is a union of not only states, but also any forces and organizations. In the political life of the overwhelming majority of modern democratic states, coalitions of parties have become a normal phenomenon of political life.
Parties can fight for power already in the compositioncoalition, go to the polls in a united front. For example, the existence of the Union of Right Forces began as a pre-election bloc, which was only later transformed into a party. On the other hand, parties can form a coalition after the elections to form a majority government, for which sometimes unexpected alliances are created. For example, at the beginning of 2015, the party “SYRIZA”, which gained the greatest number of votes in Greece, was absolutely left both in the program and electoral rhetoric, merged with the center-independent party “Independent Greeks”, which allowed the leader “SYRIZES” to form a government.
Coalition of companies
Competition compels companies likeindustrial, and trade and financial, to create various coalitions. These are cartels, syndicates and trusts known to us from school. There is no need to once again explain the difference between them. Suffice it to say that various types of coalitions between large companies play a large role in the modern global economy.
Examples of successful coalitions of various companiescountless. Enough to bring one. In 1892, a coalition of Edison Electric Light and Thomson-Houston Electric gave rise to General Electric, which today is one of the largest corporations producing various product names in almost all countries of the world.
Advantages and disadvantages of coalitions
Здесь был представлен лишь поверхностный очерк о such a phenomenon in world history as a coalition. What is it and what is its role in history - a topic worthy of a separate monograph. But it is already clear that the coalition can play both a positive and a negative role for the one who enters there. It can bring victory or, on the contrary, make it solve not only its own problems, but also the problems of its allies. It can help to stand against a strong enemy, and may deprive of sovereignty.
